Aviles' nightmares are driven by the memory of the morning of Feb. 16, 1991, when she, her daughters and three others escaped a savage fire at 6 Erwin Place.

Ten others in the three-family house, including seven children, died in the fire, which began when an overheated extension cord sparked and set a couch aflame. The extension cord had been attached to one of four space heaters, which provided the only heat in the apartment.

The Erwin Place fire was one of the most deadly in state history, and it prompted city leaders to look for ways to improve housing conditions in the city's tougher neighborhoods.

"We do not want to repeat the tragedy of Erwin Place," said former Alderman Peter Rosa, who watched that day as the bodies were taken out of the building.

But a year later, those fighting to make housing safer concede there is a long way to go.

"Are things much different?" building commission Chairman John McNamara asked. "No. Is [building code] enforcement getting better? Yes, it is, by the day."

The Erwin Place fire -- which came amid more than a dozen nonfatal arson fires in the city -- left an indelible impression on those who saw, escaped or fought it.

Octavia Aviles' sister, Maria Aviles, was asleep in her rear, first-floor bedroom as the fire began. The flames quickly blocked her exit, almost paralyzing her.

"I didn't scream, because I didn't know what to do," said Maria, 18, now a New Britain High School senior. Angel Torres, who

was living with the family, broke a window and pulled her out to safety, her face blackened by smoke. Soon the house was engulfed in flames.

Fire Lt. William Caffrey got to the fire at about 4 a.m., 90 minutes after his co-workers. In sub-freezing weather, the fire took two hours to bring under control. In the aftermath, Caffrey searched through the blackened wreckage. On the second floor a grisly discovery awaited him.

"I couldn't make it out at the time," Caffrey recalled. "It was a small kid laying next to its mother. I can still picture it very vividly in my mind."

As the morning wore on, a large crowd gathered to watch firefighters bring out the 10 bodies that were trapped on the second and third floors. Some onlookers cried. Some prayed. Rosa, the ex-alderman, was in the crowd.

"I'm still haunted by that image of that mother lying with the infant in the corner," Rosa said. "[And] the image of the body bags."

Later, Maria Aviles returned to gather her belongings. Two items were unscathed: a book bag and a water-soaked Bible.

"My Bible in my room did not burn," Aviles says. "It helped me to believe more in the Bible and in God."

After an emotional memorial service a few days after the fire, the bodies of all the victims were returned to their homeland of Puerto Rico for burial. Several thousand dollars was raised to pay for the funerals and to help the survivors.

"I think [the fire] made people seem like we were all together," Rosa said. "The silver lining in the dark cloud was the community galvanizing."

In the fire's aftermath, leaders began to look for ways to improve housing conditions. The going in the last year has been slow but steady, they say.

"Physically, have we accomplished much yet?," Mayor Donald J. DeFronzo said."Probably not. I think the [improvement] process is established. It is a long-term project."

The main achievement the mayor and other officials point to is the hiring of three more housing code inspectors, bringing the total to five. Two more firefighters have been certified as inspectors as well, bringing the number of fire inspectors to six.

The three new housing inspectors started work Feb. 1. They will soon be part of a concerted effort to inspect buildings in the Arch and Broad street areas, where some of the city's most rundown housing is, DeFronzo said.

"A plan is being worked out to aggressively search the areas with the most serious housing problems," he said.

Rosa said, "I pray the new inspectors will move that [inspection process] along ... Beyond that, I don't think that anything the city has done will necessarily change the face of housing stock in New Britain."

In a city with 33,000 to 34,000 housing units, the inspectors will be hard-pressed to review all the problem housing, officials said. Routine inspections are only part of their job; they must also investigate complaints -- and from five to 10 are made every day.

"The code enforcement part of it is going to make some headway with the new staffing," McNamara said. "I think the city could stand to have up to 10 inspectors, but the city does not have those